SHS: Under Any Cost
by jadoredi0r
Summary: A normal, rainy day in Centerscore turns into a nightmare involving threatening texts, countless investigations... and a rich heir with a mean grudge. *NOTE: This takes part around the time when Sam was going out with Spencer and Tom Prince was more of a recurring character.
1. Chapter 1

SHS EPISODE 1

Under Any Cost

I wandered aimlessly around the hallway waiting for Sam. She seemed a bit on edge this morning, and I was hoping her cousin walking with her would be better.

Suddenly, Taylor walked down the opposite side of the hallway and made a beeline for Jessica's locker. "What in the world...?" I mouthed, and hid behind a set of  
lockers. Taylor peered around curiously, then shut it. A pass then flew behind her. I picked it up. It was a pass, alright- a pass of the bathroom variety. "Some  
bathroom she went to," I said aloud. I went up to Jessica's locker just in case. What was the combination? Oh yeah! 25-37-20. It opened, and before my eyes,  
Centerscore University merchandise sat in her locker, along with pictures of boys from Centerscore U. The top of her locker caught my eye. It was a red vase with a  
burned-out incense stick. I was confused, but also nervous. For some odd reason, something was off. Who keeps something like this in their locker?Before I could look any further, I decided to stop the investigation and see if Ms. Prez and Sam were in the classroom yet. And just in time, some students walked in. Amanda was in the front of school (apparently) talking to unicorns, Keith was in the gym, and a few others had been either upstairs or downstairs. Including Sam, who looked shaken and scared with drops of rain around her. I mouthed, "What's wrong?" Sam mouthed back, "After class." Finally, Mrs. Prez came in and we all sat down. "Sorry about that, class! Now, we are going to be learning about square roots... in-depth!" She explained, and quickly wrote down roots and radicands, some problems with two roots at a time. When Ms. Prez turned around and made a mistake at one point, Jessica sneakily fixed the problem on the board, which made everyone crack up. "Okay, so the first square root is 26. Since it is not a perfect square, we do not use the root button, what do we do then?" Ms. Prez scanned the room for any volunteers. All of a sudden, a chirpy voice shouted behind me. "Cats!" Amanda yelled, and started laughing hysterically. Sam turned to me, laughing as well. "Hey, tell me again how she got into Honors Algebra?" I replied with a smile, "Hey, she might use her Math smarts on tests, you never know!" Speaking of tests, after our lesson, we got a recent test back. Sam whipped around to me and whispered, "Zoe! Amanda got an 100!" I smiled with excitement and said, "Me too!" Then Amanda and I gave air-fives. "What did you get?" I asked. Sam looked down gloomily. "A 65..." I gasped, and suddenly, the room got silent, and not because of me. The lights went off, and a stern voice said, "Okay, everyone, keep calm! Sam Davis, come out into the hall. There is a potential emergency at this school." Sam then quickly walked out of the room.

MEANWHILE (SAM'S POV)

Principal Shapiro shut the door behind her and looked me in the eyes. "Now, Sam, I want you to tell me everything that happened." I hesitated to think about everything, but I told her, "Let me just gather my thoughts." Shapiro allowed me to do so, so then I thought back to this morning. It was raining as it was now, only heavier. I swung my umbrella around and waited for Aunt Cathy to start the car. Zoe was inside waiting for her as well. As soon as I was about to hop in the car, I noticed a black limousine across the street from our house, which was unusual. The house across from us only has one car, and I knew it was the only car they've had. I ran over quickly to check if anyone was inside. No one was there, so I immediately thought nothing of it. As Aunt Cathy dropped us off, Zoe rushed inside to greet Maria and Amanda. I stayed, being a little paranoid about the limo. As I was walking inside and closed my umbrella, I saw a figure standing against one of the corners in front of the school. He was a familiar figure and I've seen that outfit before. Something was off. Suddenly, his head shot up, showing angry eyes and a clenching jaw. "Hello, Sam...!" He said. It was Tom Prince. I tried to regain my breath. "Wh... what are you...?" Before I could complete my sentence, he dashed after me. I let out the loudest scream I've ever done, and ran around to the back of the school. Without thinking, I hopped into an open window, closed it quickly, and squatted down. It was a good thing it was Mr. Keller's Science room, and no one was there yet. All of a sudden, I hear the scuffling of shoes, followed by a shout. "NO ONE GETS AWAY FROM TOM PRINCE!" He yelled, and I had to run back outside, into the lobby, speed-walked down the hallway into the class. By then, school had officially begun and I guessed Tom gave up.

As I finished the story, Shapiro looked whiter than ever before. "Okay, Sam, thank you. We will inform Spartan Academy that there has been an infraction between you two, and we will get to the bottom of it." She said, and allowed me to go back to class. I sighed and opened the door. Staring down at my test grade, I thought to myself that this was going to be a long rest of the week.


	2. Zoe's POV: The Plan

ZOE'S POV

After class, I walked up to Sam. "So, what happened back there? You looked really scared." Sam sighed and turned to me. "Zoe, let me just warn you. The weirdest, craziest, unpredictable things happen here. This is one of them." She said, playing with her ponytail. I waited until she added, "I was outside, right? And all of a sudden, Amanda jumps out of nowhere-" I stopped her. "No, I mean... way earlier." I said, telling right away that Sam had a hard time telling the story. After she told me, I could not believe my ears. "So let me get this straight. No matter how much you block his number, he'll just get another one. He nonstop texts you, e-mails you?" I asked. Sam nodded as we went to English class. She then said, "I'm just afraid he'll show up actually AT our house, and... something will happen." I then got scared. I've heard a lot about Tom, who causes trouble for EVERYONE, according to Jacob. I wondered if he's done it to anyone else. I asked her, to which she replied, "Yes. You know Mallika and Kim? After Mallika abandoned Tom, he kept harassing her via voice mail and tried to make Centerscore kids miserable. When Kim somehow made Tom mad one day, he held this grudge and would text her a bunch of mean things." My face turned white. I knew them, they're both seniors. Hopefully I'll never see him in person. I told her, "Sam, this is really starting to scare me as well. I can only imagine how you feel. If Shapiro contacts Spartan and nothing happens, you will need to tell someone else. Tom Prince is stalking you and is basically a stalker. But if anything, I'd rather have it happen to me than you." Sam smiled a little. "Thanks, Zoe. Unfortunately, I realize that if this doesn't stop, no matter how many people I tell, I'll have to fight this battle by myself."  
We sat down for the lecture. 5 minutes passed without us saying a word. Sam was shaking, so I sat next to her. I asked, "Are you going to be okay?" She looked over at me and replied, "Don't laugh at me or anything... But I'm just paranoid right now. Tom could be anywhere." I looked over at the windows, then back at Sam. "Hun, just trust me. Tom is in his own school, probably causing trouble there. You're safe here. Shapiro is contacting the school by now." Sam took a deep breath and said, "Thanks, cuz. I'm better now." I smiled, nodded, and went back to my seat.  
After a few minutes into our lecture, I heard Sam's phone quietly buzzing. Sam made sure our teacher wasn't looking, and she clicked the button. After she read it, I heard a sigh and Sam put her hand near her jawbone. I tried to peer over to see what it said: It was from Tom Prince- "How STUPID can you be to ignore someone like me? I'm starting to think you have a PROBLEM! Is that it?! And you seem to be all over this Spencer guy who you think is SO SPECIAL like he likes you back and he's going to marry you! UH, NO." I blurted out in the middle of the lecture, "WHAT?!" I immediately covered my mouth. Mr. Freeman looked at me in curiosity. "Everything okay, Zoe?" He asked. I nodded and apologized. As he returned to talking, I couldn't help but wonder for the rest of the period... how would he know all of this? Why would he want to hurt Sam like he is?  
Third period came and went, then when lunch came around, I marched up to our table. I'd never marched up to anything or anyone before, nor had I been so angry in my life. But, this angriness spurred an idea; and that idea was about to go down today. We sat at the outside center table today. Since it was raining, we pulled up the umbrella and started talking. "Okay, guys," I said as I sat down, "I have a plan. Before Sam comes down to the cafeteria, I want everyone to be very clear about what we're going to do. Like, crystal clear." Keith raised his hand. I nodded at him. He then replied, "Will there be any sneaking, conniving, or craziness involved?" We all smiled and Hector proceeded to say, "Dogg, this is Centerscore. Anything can happen. Even though Zoe is like, an angel, this sounds very important. Go on." I nodded and continued. "Sam is being harassed by this Spartan Academy guy, and his name is Tom Prince, I think." Suddenly, Nicole, Taylor, Amanda, Maria, and Jessica gasped. I then got confused and asked very curiously, "Do... do you guys know him?" Nicole replied, "No, we've heard of him! But fourth period, we spent all of Study Hall trying to figure out who TP was! We looked at the yearbook and everything!" Amanda laughed. "I thought toilet paper was stalking Sam!" We couldn't help but laugh at that. Maria asked, "What did you have in mind for us to help?" I pulled out a piece of paper from my bag and laid it out for everyone to see. "Okay, so here is the basic step. When Sam comes down here in a few minutes, I'll ask her for her phone. She WILL say yes, I've needed to check her phone before. Then, I will tell you guys I have to leave early for a Student Council meeting, which actually isn't until 7th period. I'll go to the bathroom and track down Tom, his address, everything. I will text all you guys to go to the lobby. We'll go from there." Everyone nodded in agreement. Just in time, Sam came with her lunch tray. About five minutes later, I warned the table and left, Sam's phone and all.  
I ran to the girls' bathroom as fast as possible, and luckily, no one was in there. I stood against the row of sinks and took out Sam's phone. In a few seconds flat, I found that text from English class Tom left. I then tracked his number, found his address, and all of the information I needed. After writing it down in my iPhone's Notes app, I went to the lobby, where a select few of kids hung out after they were done lunch. The mass text was sent to everyone, now Sam was included. Everyone came on cue, including Jill, who was not with the girls in Study Hall. "Alright, everyone... it's time to inform Sam what's going on." I explained. Sam shyly said, "I would definitely like to know. It sounds important." Hector turned to Keith and whispered, "Told you, man!" Keith and I smiled. I proceeded. "Alright, we are going to end Tom Prince's reign... uh, no pun intended. But Sam, this needs to stop, and until Shapiro handles the situation, we're doing some confronting." Jill wanted to add something, so I let her. "We should go to his house this Friday. I can sense that this will take a lot of work, so everyone needs to take notes and gather ideas." I pointed at her with the 'yes!' look in my eye. "Great idea! Guys, if you have an iPod or iPhone, just write it down in your Notes app. For the rest of you guys, write it down on paper." I said. Sam raised her hand. "Zoe, just a quick question. Who exactly will go up to his door?" I paused, admittedly, for dramatic effect. "I will." Everyone gasped. Keth raised his hand. "Zoe, no. We can't let you in there. He is stalking Sam, he's done this to 2 other girls here. Who knows what will happen if you go INSIDE his house! This is a guy's job." I nervously twirled my hair and replied, "Keith, I know where you're coming from, but this HAS to be done by me. Plus, I don't want you fighting. You and Hector are too nice to do that." The guys both smiled, but it still bothered Hector. "Well, I'm still uncomfortable about letting you do the job. I mean, Keith's right. Who knows why he's following Sam and stalking her, and who knows what will happen once he steals her or something. He could take his anger out on you!" I got a bright idea in my head and said, "Well, I could walk, or run, out of there knowing he's just a jerk who doesn't know how to treat girls right. If any guy lays his hand on a girl in anger or threatens her, he's being cowardly." Everyone agreed and even clapped, and so with that, our plan was set.


	3. Taking Action

3 days and 15 texts from Tom to Sam later, it turned 6:30 in the afternoon. Hector's Party Van pulled up. Sam and I showed up in our black sweatsuits for obvious reasons. Everyone else was in black, too. Hector greeted us with a welcoming smile and some awesome music. "Hey, doggs! Glad you could make it to the Party Van!" We greeted him back and walked to an open seat. I sat with Nicole, Sam sat with Jill. Taylor started a conversation. "I wouldn't usually condone all black, but this is a real problem. I'd sacrifice fashion for my friends any day." We all laughed and agreed. Suddenly, we hit a bumpy road. Everyone started screaming until Hector said, "Don't worry, everyone! It's just a dirt kind of road. Lots of rocks for some reason."  
The van arrived at his mansion, so Hector looked at me. "Zoe, are you sure this is what you want?" Now that I thought about it, I was shaking and scared now. "I want a few of you guys to come with me." Sam, Amanda, and Maria volunteered to come out with me, and they waited in the front of his yard I did some super-sneaky running across his yard, then popped up at his door. Lifting one manicured nail, I picked the lock apparently perfectly. The door was quiet, luckily. I shut the door slowly and tip-toed up the stairs. I suddenly fell upon a crossroads- there were two seperated hallways as most mansions have. I decided to go left. All of the doors were open so far; A bathroom, a guest room, and a game room. Next to the game room, I spotted an open door which was Tom's room! Suspiciously, no one was there, but the light was on. I looked inside his room, feeling a bit bad and still scared. Suddenly, I heard loud footsteps and hid behind the door. "Zoe?" It was Sam. I whispered, "Sam, you're in luck. Tom isn't in the house." Sam nodded and spotted his cell phone on his bed. "Zoe, his phone. We need this. He could be anywhere. And plus, if we take it, we can do some sort of prank." She explained. The hairs on my arm stood on end. I said, "Stealing? I don't know, won't he just buy another one like he's been doing?" Sam gave me that 'I know what I'm doing' look and replied, "Not if he doesn't have his cell number." I finally agreed to the plan, with a little nervousness.  
As we dashed to the Party Van, I frantically asked Sam, "Are you sure Mr. Prince wasn't in the house?" Sam replied in shortened breaths, "Hey, he's the owner! His auto shop is open to him around this time." "And his butler?" Sam laughed, "Stereotypical butler's association meeting." We ran to our seats (Along with Amanda and Maria), and Hector drove off. Hector then loudly asked, "Any evidence, girls?" I proudly held up his cell phone, and everyone cheered in excitement. Hector then added, "Alright, so I sent a mass text to our parents saying we'll be hanging out tonight! The party is set at my house. Is that cool?" We all smiled and all felt relief. "Good!" Maria said, "We can check out Tom's phone when we get there."  
Upon our arrival at Hector's, I made sure I knew how the phone worked. It was a touch screen, so I only had to figure out a few things. Before I knew it, I was on Tom's home screen. A few buttons later, I checked his pictures to see if he had taken any photos. There was one that caught my eye and scared me- a picture of Sam walking to a classroom with her back turned. She seemed to be far away in the picture as well. By this time, we all sat in the circle for Tom's 'dissection' of his phone and reasons for stalking Sam. "Okay, guys. This is what I found." I explained, and the rest of the group saw the picture. Sam's jaw automatically dropped. "When was this?" She asked, now shaking. I replied, "It looks like it was taken around 6th period due to the time." Sam then said sternly, "Zoe, give me the phone. I hear Tom can get texts on his house phone." I immediately recoiled in fear. "F-fine, but don't go too far like cursing him out or something." She whispered back, "Look, I know I used to have that bad girl rep at Monarch, but I've never moved near that point. You'll see what I'll do." I lended her the phone as the rest of our friends scooted by to watch what she'd do.  
Sam furiously typed with the same straight face for what seemed like 10 minutes. When she finished, she showed everyone and announced, "Take a look at this little number." We all craned our necks and went closer to his phone. The text read, "Tom, I know you're a spoiled brat with hardly no friends, but that doesn't mean you should be stalking girls to get revenge or whatever you're trying to do. Yes, I said stalking, because it's exactly what you're doing. It's time you realize girls will not want you back if you take pictures of them in the hallway and constantly text them. What is your deal? Why are you doing this, and why me? Have I done something to you? I want to know, because you would seem like a nice guy if you weren't so obsessed with money and power, conceited, and the occasional dash of jerk." We all looked at her impressively. It was quite quiet until Amanda suddenly asked, "How does a dash of jerk taste? My parents are making chicken tomorrow." We all started laughing. Amanda may seem like she doesn't know what's going on, but in reality, she has it together and knows when we need cheering up.  
Saturday came up, and I made sure to get up early and check Sam's phone. I walked into her room. She was at a social call with Portia, a cheerleader at Wilson High, our rival school. Sam wouldn't be back for at least 2 hours. I picked up her phone and turned it on. By then, my heart was beating extremely fast, because who knows what I'd find? As I suspected, it was a text from Tom. I slowly clicked the 'open' button and read it: "This is the last straw. Centerscore's going to get a little more interesting, Samantha... very interesting." The very words of this message sent chills up my spine, and more than once. I exited out of her messages and left her phone on her nightstand. On second thought... maybe I could freak him out! I picked up the phone, but undecidedly put it back down. Then, I finally picked it up and texted him back. "Dear Tom, you don't know me, but I know of you. You've been stalking and spying on Sam since day one. Things are about to get interesting, all right... for you." It was a VERY risky text, that's for sure. I was also sure I was fighting fire with fire, but I wasn't sure what else to do. Until Principal Shapiro gets our report on Monday, I needed to help as well. My heart pounded as I went back to my room to continue on with my day. I decided I'd sit on my porch and just chill. The text I sent was in the back of my mind, and it got to the point where I got paranoid of Tom being around, but I had second thoughts. He doesn't know who I am at all. I'd like to keep it that way until this gets to a certan point.  
Aunt Cathy noticed I was hanging around and sat with me. "Hello, Zoe! Are you just chilling out here?" She asked, smiling. I smiled back and said, "Yeah, I was getting kind of bored. I'm glad you came, though!" Aunt Cathy laughed. "So, anything on your mind you'd like to talk about?" Wow, it's as if she's a mind reader! "Um... Aunt Cathy, I need to tell you something. It's about Sam." I hesitated. She gave me a confused look and replied, "Are you guys not getting along?" I shook my head and immediately said, "No, no, not at all. But... it's extremely scary, I have to tell someone else. Sam... she's being harassed and stalked by this guy from Spartan Academy." She gasped and I almost felt her fear. "Oh, no! Zoe, what exactly has he been doing? Because when I get this information, we'll all sit together and talk about it when she gets home." She said, very scared. I told her everything, and immediately, she whipped out her phone and got to talking to Sam.  
As Sam got through the door, we were already sitting at the table. She walked curiously toward the kitchen. "Guys...?" Aunt Cathy said seriously, "Sam, don't worry. You're not in trouble. Have a seat and we'll ask you some questions." Sam sat down on the chair and waited. I asked, "Sam, did you forget something at your social call today?" She replied suddenly, "Oh! My phone. I realized that when Portia wanted to play DrawSomething with everyone." I picked up her phone and added, "Wait, there's more. Tom sent you another text." Sam suddenly looked up at Aunt Cathy. "Mom, you know? But how..." She looked to her, then at me. "Oh..." Aunt Cathy nodded and continued on. "So, how long has this been going on?" Sam sighed and looked down, then said, "About... almost a week." Aunt Cathy then asked, "Do you know why Tom Prince could be doing this?" Sam shook her head. I shook my head as well. Aunt Cathy finalized this mini-interrogation by saying, "Until Zoe gets Principal Shapiro's report on Spartan, I am heading down to Prince Automotives. I'm sure Silas himself would be THRILLED to hear this. I cannot believe it, my own daughter!" She ranted until she closed the door. We sat in silence until Sam quietly said, "I really hope this is resolved soon. I kept having to look behind me and ask the girls if they saw anything. Taylor was seriously not pleased, and neither was Porscha's friend Steph." I sighed, then replied, "I mean, we tried lots of things. On Monday, hopefully Shapiro did enough to stop this mess." Sam nodded. What else could we do in the meantime?


	4. On Her Own

It was 7 at night, and getting dark out. Stepping outside, I called Hector. "What's up, Zoe, something on your mind?" He asked, music playing in the background. "Yes. Pick me up at 7:30. I'm heading back to Tom's." I hesitated. I heard Hector then spitting out something. "Uh, Hector? Is everything okay?" I asked, confused. Hector started cracking up and said, "Well, on a serious note, not really. You, Sam, Maria, and Amanda got lucky last week. But what about tonight? Do you really want to risk your life over Tom Prince?" I thought about this. I remembered the words from last week. Who knows why he's stalking Sam... There's a variety of reasons why people harrass others. Something as simple as a crush, to something dangerous like bullying or physical violence. Then I re-thought. I had a reason. "Hector, hear me out. Centerscore and the rest of us could also be in danger." I remembered the text from Tom and recited it to Hector. He then replied, "Not Centerscore. Not today, not EVER. I'm heading your way." We said out good-byes and hung up.

I sat on the porch when Sam ran out, almost hyperventilating. "Sam! What's going on?" I frantically asked. She replied being out of breath, "Look at the last text he wrote me, did you send something?" I looked at it. 'You're right, I don't know who this is. But if you step one foot near Tom Prince, you'll see how interesting this'll REALLY get...' The chills came back, but I honestly said, "Yes, I did. I had to send something, and not let you suffer. Hector's picking me up to go to Tom's house." Sam sighed and quietly said, "Just... whatever you do, please don't make him any more angry than he is. Trust me, I've witnessed the Mallika disaster. It was awful."

Soon enough, Hector picked me up. We talked all the way to Tom's house, then I got out of the Party Van. I wore my black outfit again, and was ready for just about anything. The mansion was lit in some places, there was even a new, red car sitting in their driveway. The verdict was, the butler was probably home. I strolled up and routinely picked the lock. As I went inside, I went up the steps. I did feel a sense of safeness since Hector was waiting outside. At the same time, though, I was still scared.

Going up the stairs, I heard a voice. "Jeeves?" I jumped and tiptoed towards the left hallway, then peeked in the door. A blonde guy wearing a blue polo with his collar popped was sitting on his bed, watching TV- Tom Prince. He's cute, too bad he's a greedy stalker-jerk. I thought, and knocked on Tom's door. "Come in!" He then yelled. Tom took one look at me and jumped out of his skin. "Oh! A girl?! Wait... are you from Monarch Prep?" He asked, trembling. I crossed my arms and said, "Don't ask any questions. You're Tom Prince, right?" Tom then stiffened his shoulders and boasted, "The one and only!" I then said, "Listen, I'm a Centerscorian, do you know a girl named Sam Davis?" He seemed like he had a mixture of confusion, anger, and nervousness. Then, he calmed. "You... wouldn't happen to be the person that texted me earlier... are you?" Tom asked, almost raising his voice. I quickly raised my eyebrows and angrily put my hands on my hips. "Listen! That person is anonymous. Until then, tell me why you're constantly texting her!" All of a sudden, he got right in my face. "You wouldn't understand... and you CERTAINLY don't need to be involved! This is between me and Sam only!" He said angrily. I took a cautionary step back and replied, almost in the same tone, "Oh, like it was with Mallika? How well did that turn out, having 2 other so-called peasants coming after you all over one girl?" Suddenly, Tom raised his arms quickly, then set them down again. Again, getting in my face, he yelled, "You don't know anything about that! That was supposed to be a secret, never to be talked about again! And how... how DARE you bring that up! I doubt you even KNOW Samantha, and yet you have the audacity to come into MY DAD'S PERSONAL PROPERTY and start throwing accusations everywhere?! This is... preposterous!" I took a step closer and dropped my voice to a lower tone: "Oh, yeah? I know her so well that... I know you took PICTURES of her. Unauthorized ones that YOU could get in trouble for." Tom's face turned a dark shade of red and his eyebrows darted harshly. "You... YOU'RE the one that took my phone?!" He then started growling and yelling incoherently before he tried to lunge at me. Before he could, I darted down the stairs and raced out the door.

As I got down farther on Tom's lawn, we heard him stop. "You had a van with technological equipment here the whole time?! I'M GETTING MY BODYGUARDS, AND YOU WILL ALL BE SORRY!" When he ran back in, Hector yelled, "Get in the van, now! He's out of his mind!"  
With that, Hector backed out of the road as fast as he could. Right as we got back on the normal road, a long, black limousine started down the Prince Mansion driveway.


	5. Sam's POV: Suspense & Pretense

SAM'S POV

It was almost 8:00. The suspense was killing me, and at this point, I hoped it would all be worth it when Tom finally came to his senses and stopped what he was doing. At the same time, I thought, his senses were a twisted labyrinth with more loops than that one rollercoaster at Seven Flags. In other words, it would be a long journey for Tom to find himself. I looked at my phone. 8:05, no texts from Zoe OR Hector. Come on... SOMETHING has to happen now! Another long 5 minutes later, I heard one of the garage doors open and close, followed by the sounds of hurried footsteps and panicked breathing. I jumped up from my bed in a less-pathetic state and swung open my door to Zoe and Hector, both out of breath and looking frightened. Before I could even ask, Zoe spoke with still-labored breathing: "Tom's on a rampage and he sent his bodyguards so we can 'be sorry,' and the Party Van wasn't exactly 'easy' to hide, and-" I stopped her and asked slowly, "Zoe, what exactly did Tom say? You know, before this supposed rampage?" "He told me that I'm not in the right place to be involved, that I don't know you well enough to stick up for you, and this was all an ACCUSATION." Zoe explained this all with amusingly appropriate gesturing. Hector turned to Zoe and replied, "Wait... he seriously said that? If he knew an ounce of anything, he would know that you two are cousins, seeing as though you walk together in the hallways sometimes. Not much of a stalker-slash-attention seeker, is he?" We laughed about it before our small circle got quiet.

***Annnnd... scene!**

**I stopped at this point because I honestly have no idea what'll happen next, haha! Will Tom find the group? Will there be an epic search/chase scene? Not even I know the answer! If anyone has any suggestions until I think of something that will happen, that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! :)***


End file.
